what’s missing #10
best films: #19: THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974)
Cornering the market (at least at the time) on stellar sequels, The Godfather, Part II doesn’t quite outdo its predecessor, but it comes awfully close. Perhaps its one detractor is the absence of the iconic Don Vito Corleone (played brilliantly, of course, by Marlon Brando in the original). But with son Michael (Al Pacino) front and center, the now semi-lost Pacino (what has happened to his career?!) shows the reason he was dubbed one of the tops of his generation. Continuing the saga of that lovable mafia family we grew to cherish in the 1972 original, Part II tells us two stories – one of Pacino’s Michael dealing with family drama (Connie’s got an abusive fiance who’s kind of a tattletale, to say the least, and Fredo, well… you know all about that, right?) and the other of Vito’s beginning as a mafia man (this time played by Oscar-winner for the role, Robert de Niro). Thanks to some expert storytelling by director Francis Ford Coppola and author/screenwriter Mario Puzo, this sequel is a must-see. Pacino is in top form (probably his best moments of the trilogy are in this film), and Diane Keaton, as Kay Corleone, gets a real chance to show her prowess (I need not mention her memorable freak-out moment do I?). Perhaps the real star of the show, though, is John Cazale. As the troubled, sniveling Fredo Corleone, Cazale is both sympathetically pathetic and disturbing in his priorities. And that kissing scene is top-notch, obviously. He, in fact, broke all of our hearts.
best of 2010: the move score guidebook, vol. 3
The wrapping up continues for the scores of 2010 (see Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 for more score goodness), my way of congregating all the eligible music for this year’s Oscar category for YOUR perusal! Please enjoy the next 15, and place your thoughts on the category’s race (and your thoughts on the first two volume’s worth of movie music) in the comments section.
The Ghost Writer
Score by Alexandre Desplat
I Love You Phillip Morris
Score by Nick Urata
A Prophet
Score by Alexandre Desplat
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Score by Jacob Groth
The Town
Score by Harry Gregson-Williams and David Buckley
The City of Your Final Destination
Score by Jorge Drexler
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Score by David Hirschfelder
The Social Network
Score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Never Let Me Go
Score by Rachel Portman
Let Me In
Score by Michael Giacchino
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Score by Gabriel Yared
Mother and Child
Score by Edward Shearmur
Centurion
Score by Ilan Eshkeri
Nowhere Boy
Score by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory
Tamara Drewe
Score by Alexandre Desplat
ladies of SNL, ranked
Whether you’re a fan or not of these past couple seasons of Saturday Night Live, you’ll at least have to relent when it comes to the turn-of-the-century (and a bit of the late ’90s) cast’s efforts when it came to the females. Making it cool to be a woman on SNL for a new generation (and becoming the MVPs over virtually every male co-star), these six ladies have had varying success outside the world of the late-night sketch comedy.
best of 2010: the movie score guidebook, vol. 2
The recapping continues as I take a look back at as many of the year’s film scores as I possibly can in an effort to congregate in one spot, all that 2010 had to offer. For the first 15 featured, check out Volume 1 of the guidebook. If you’re all caught up, then read on! (Again, yes, there are some silly, possibly throwaway tracks here, but I wanted to be all-inclusive!)
Megamind
Score by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe
Robin Hood
Score by Marc Streitenfeld
Despicable Me
Score by Hans Zimmer, Heitor Pereira, and Pharell Williams
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Score by Alexandre Desplat
Shrek Forever After
Score by Harry Gregson-Williams
Inception
Score by Hans Zimmer
Salt
Score by James Newton Howard
Dinner for Schmucks
Score by Theodore Shapiro
Green Zone
Score by John Powell
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Score by Nigel Godrich
Agora
Score by Dario Marianelli
Cairo Time
Score by Niall Byrne
Chloe
Score by Mychael Danna
Eat Pray Love
Score by Dario Marianelli
Red Riding Trilogy
Score by Adrian Johnston, Dickon Hinchcliffe, and Barrington Pheloung
what’s missing #9
casting crew: HOOVERVILLE
Casting Crew is making its triumphant return – this time we’re going back for some depression. Okay, actually it’s Depression. The great one in fact. For this entry, we’re casting the Herbert Hoover flick, taking a gander at his life during the troubling events that followed the 1929 stock market crash (and that controversial Secretary of the Treasury of his…). Let’s look at the major players.
best of 2010: the movie score guidebook, vol. 1
The end of the year is fast approaching, and as the perhaps more-scrutinized categories are locking up in their nomination possibilities, one of my personal favorite Oscar categories (though I infrequently agree with their final nominee choices) is Best Original Score. In an effort to organize your (okay, I’m mostly doing this for me, let’s be honest) predictions for this illustrious music category come Oscar season, here’s your guide to 2010 in original scores. (Note: Some score contenders haven’t been released, hence their omission; also, I’ve included just about everything you can think of here, hence some of the silly entries – you never know!)
Alice in Wonderland
Score by Danny Elfman
The Crazies
Score by Mark Isham
How to Train Your Dragon
Score by John Powell
The Wolfman
Score by Danny Elfman
Kick-Ass
Score by John Murphy
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Score by Craig Armstrong
Iron Man 2
Score by John Debney
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Score by Harry Gregson-Williams
Clash of the Titans
Score by Ramin Djawadi
Splice
Score by Cyrille Aufort
The American
Score by Herbert Gronemeyer
The Karate Kid
Score by James Horner
Toy Story 3
Score by Randy Newman
Secretariat
Score by Nick Glennie-Smith
Babies
Score by Bruno Coulais
best films: #20: TOY STORY (1995)
You know, it seems only fitting with the re-igniting of Toy Story mania thanks to its most-recent, stellar outing and the incoming DVD release of Toy Story 3 next week that it would be high time to honor one of the all-time greatest kids movies. The original Toy Story was the advent of what has truly become the modern animated movie. Though many have attempted to re-create that first-time, magical feeling of the full-length, computer-animated movie, the genre has mostly been filled with wannabes. Toy Story was a simple premise – when a new, fancier toy descends upon Andy’s bedroom, top dog Woody’s reaction is sour at best. And when Woody and new toy Buzz get lost in the city, their travails back to Andy’s room are nothing short of legendary. Reminiscing back a bit to the more imaginative movies of my childhood – namely Honey I Shrunk the Kids – in Toy Story, we’re taken to an entirely new perspective where a child’s globe becomes the terrifying boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark and the dismembering of dolls and action figures becomes the start of a disturbing toy torture chamber. Pixar made the trivial seem larger than life, and they did such a vividly colorful job of depicting it. And thanks to an expertly written story with dialogue way better than most animated films were willing to offer up to children and their not-typically-enthused parental drag-alongs and a host of delightful characters and nostalgic throwbacks (Mr. Potato Head! Etch-A-Sketch! Speak & Spell!) Toy Story becomes an virtually unending feast for the eyes and mind.
Journalistic Skepticism 